Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian are doing some serious damage control now that Lamar is being blasted for mishandling the finances of his Cathy's Kids charity. Find out where Lamar went wrong inside....

Now that LA Clippers baller Lamar Odom has been embarrassed by an ESPN "Outside The Lines" story claiming funds from his Cathy's Kids charity have been misused, he and his PR team are attempting some serious damage control.

The fallout stems from the "OTL" investigation finding that most of the $2.2 Million raised for Lamar's cancer research charity went towards two "elite" youth basketball teams and there's no documentation to support that ANY money was used towards cancer-related causes.

Also, the sole employee at Cathy's Kids just happens to be Lamar's high school basketball coach (who collects a $72K salary). And to make matters worse, the charity is now in the red, owing $256K. And when questioned about the findings, Lamar raised eyebrows saying, "It's my money."

His wife Khloe jumped to his defense saying that Lamar had donated more that 90%of the money raise by the foundation and,

"All of the funds donated by Lamar and the other contributions to Cathy’s Kids were used for one of the foundation’s intended charitable purposes. Not one penny went to help Lamar personally or any member of his family. No charitable funds were misused, and the IRS has repeatedly given Cathy’s Kids a clean bill of health, confirming that there were no improprieties."

Not so fast.....

The reason Lamar's activities are being look at as "fraud" is simply the way his charity has been doing business. Andrew Bondarowicz, a lawyer who specializes in non-profits told Radar Online,

“Lamar made the comment that the money is his, and I believe it was just a statement out of ignorance because he doesn’t understand. Once money comes into the organization, regardless of who put it in there, it’s not yours anymore. It belongs to the public. That charity is now stepping into the shoes of the government doing public work.”

Those sentiments where echoed by Ken Berger, president and CEO of Charity Navigator who added,

“Often times I think a lot of charities and a lot of these celebrity charities suffer from cluelessness. You become famous and you get a big head and you think you know things that you may not know. Running a non-profit is just not happy day, there’s a lot that goes into it."

Now Lamar and his team have been pushing forward stories about individuals who were helped by Cathy's Kids. TMZ reports that Ryan Pearson, who plays basketball overseas, has come forward since the scandal broke to credit Lamar with funding his "private" high school education and assisting him in other ways (team travel, team registration fees, buses, and meals) to help him become a professional athlete.

Lamar and his camp are arguing that Cathy's Kids may not have donated anything to cancer-related projects, but folks have been "helped" along the way....in the area of basketball.

CharityWatch president t Daniel Borochoff, says this is exactly where Lamar went wrong,

“I always have a problem when I see a big famous celebrity having a charity. Somebody like him should really just offer to be a spokesperson for an existing charity. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about the potential scandal. If he just wanted to throw money around at young basketball players, he should do just that. You don’t need a charity, but since he has one it should be done properly.”

Unfortunately, this fiasco may leave a stain on anything Lamar and Khloe associate themselves with and could make people give a side-eye to foundations run by athletes.

It seems like Lamar's intentions are good....he just needs to clean up things on the business side.

Comments

After hearing Lamar's comment "it's my money" I have to wonder if maybe he is brainless. Lamar, seriously, how could you possibly think that was your money?! Lamar, you committed fraud and I hope the IRS rakes you over the coals! Karma baby for leaving that beautiful baby momma and your children! Scumbag!

Lamar isn't dumb and no one was in the dark here; charitable donations are a tax write-off (even when giving to your own charity) and everyone involved knows that's why there was no "real" charity work being done by Cathy's. Celebrities, athletes, public figures, etc. have been doing this for yearsssss; it's a way to reduce taxable income. That part that does seem dumb is that they think they're going to get away with it smh.

Aww Well I agree with one of the lawyer/spokesperson ppl said. If he wanted to help out young aspiring bball players, then the charity should have been about that. Why act like you are contributing to Cancer if that is not the area of concern for your charity. Who knows..

Ok, so if the charity was established to help kids with cancer, WHY IN THE HELL WASN'T IT? I mean, there are endless children, hospitals, research facilities that he could've selected from that needed assistance. Are you kidding me? If it was going to be used for basketball purposes, dammit, set it up as such. I smell fraud, fraud, fraud!!! I'm sorry...there are too many people, especially babies, succumbing to this ugly monster and this just irks the hell out of me.

Even though the money was put to good use either way, it's still not professional to have a non-profit organization created to address issues related to cancer but have the funds go toward basketball-related endeavors. I agree with the CharityWatch president. Lamar's heart is in the right place, but he should just be a spokesperson if he can't manage the foundation properly.

No, his heart wasn't in the right place or the funds would have gone to help children with cancer! Clearly, even his mother dying of cancer wasn't enough to keep him honest...funneling it to help kids play ball is not what the generous donors had in mind. I used to like Lamar but the more I learn, the less I like him.